


Burning

by verdictlesslife (Jaetion)



Category: Final Fantasy X
Genre: Age Difference, Community: pyre_flies, F/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-07
Updated: 2010-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-07 02:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaetion/pseuds/verdictlesslife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Auron is always forced to enjoy celebrations.  An AU set after Yuna's pilgrimage.  A response to the prompts "26) Intoxication, 53) Return(ing), 78) Fire" form the pyre_flies community at LJ (January 2010).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burning

Rikku and Tidus are inexhaustible. They swing each other around the bonfire, pausing only to toss glasses of Al Bhed rum past their grins or to recapture Yuna whenever she gets into too deep of a conversation with one of the other attendees. Then the three of them whirl in wobbly circles that drive many of the other dancers back to the safety of the punch bowl.

He gets tired just watching them.

The raucous voices grow more slurred as more bottles of alcohol are distributed. An old memory stirs, from years so far back it's nearly a lifetime ago: A celebration in Braska's honor, with a bonfire and music, just like this night's. Jecht swore he hadn't touched anything, but he still danced and barreled through the crowd. Braska joked that a sober Jecht was still more boisterous than a drunk Auron, and Jecht had laughed and pulled Auron into a wild waltz around the fire.

When Rikku collapses on the ground next to him in a puddle of beads and braids, she is damp and panting. He untucks his arm from his jacket and slides his hand into her mess of hair; she tilts her head up instinctively to meet him.

She hauls herself with exaggerated huffs and groans into his lap, then expires a second time. When the group of musicians launch into an enthusiastic rendition of a local folk song, Rikku sings softly along, making up lyrics when she doesn't know the words. She presses her mouth against his thigh and he can't understand her mumblings, though he does catch a few snippets of rude lyrical misinterpretations.

Suddenly she uncurls herself and shoots up, recovered and restored; Auron gets a mouthful of her hair before she leaps away. With a snake's speed and grace she undulates through the crowd, and Auron's left alone again in the flickering dark. He folds his arms back into his jacket and feels the cool night air creep through the material and into his bones.

Rikku bursts through a group of startled dancers with Tidus and Yuna firmly grasped in either hand. She marches and they trail and trip behind her, made helpless by laughter. She stops at his feet and reels Tidus and Yuna in to her side; the three have matching grins as they stare down at him.

Before he can order them to banish the thought from their minds, Auron is hauled to his feet. Rikku shouts an instruction to the band and incites them to burst into a bossanova so fast and furious that its impossible to even clap to. Rikku finds a way to do it; not only clapping, but a swirling dance that sweeps them into a spiral around bonfire. Glaring at Tidus scares him enough that he and Yuna disappear into the shadows, leaving just Rikku in his arms.

Another night to remember.


End file.
